Monday, May 13, 2013

Last Days In Utah

As we pulled out to leave, I saw this in the side mirror. I grabbed the camera and got out as fast as I could. It was already fading and lasted less than a minute. It’s a keeper.

The San Rafael Swell has some of the most bizarrely twisted, uplifted and eroded rocks in Utah. There are canyons, domes, pictographs and petroglyphs. Everything we like. We have poked around the Swell before, but have yet to spend enough time there.

Tuesday, May 7 - Although we would have loved staying in the San Rafael Swell longer, the weather was not going to cooperate with us. We never drive on interstates if we can avoid them, but today was the exception. We wanted to drive the scenic 75 miles of I-70 along the Swell. This area is breath-taking in it's beauty. There are many scenic view areas and each one must be taken. Also, there are no signs that you can't overnight, but 10:00 a.m. seemed a bit early to stop for the day. This is definitely a "Must Do Again" area. It took us 2 1/2 hours to drive the 75 miles. We arrived in Payson, UT mid-afternoon and parked at Wal*Mart where we shopped and spent the night. We had TV reception after three weeks without.

Wednesday, May 8 - The first order of business was to go to Utah Trikes, where we bought the trike, Trixie, and have her checked out. They made a minor adjustment and cleaned all of the red dirt out off her and she certainly did have red dirt. We stopped at Costco to get some things. Then we moved on to the Salt Lake City area. Right now we are camped at Rockport State Park about 35 miles east of Salt Lake City. This is a decent state park on a lake. The sites are asphalt and there is a concrete pad with table, grill, fire pit and Ramada. There is also grass and trees. We have a fast internet connection and 13 TV channels. We had the place to ourselves the first two days. All of this for only $10 per night. The entertaining thing in the campground are the magpies. They are big and beautiful. There are pikas that have dug large holes, so the magpies go into the holes and retrieve worms and insects.

Thursday, May 9 - We went into Salt Lake City, drove around for a little while and stopped at the Court House. This is a beautiful building. We had been to the State Capitol last year, but missed the Court House. The important stop was the Red Iguana for lunch. We ate there twice last year. Don had Mole Coloradito - Pine nuts, almonds, dried chile chiuacle, guajillo chile blended with fresh chile poblano and Mexican chocolate - served over grilled pork loin. I had Mole Negro - dried chile mulato, negro pasilla, Mexican chocolate, raisins, peanuts, walnuts & bananas tossed with chicken. Don't ask what a lot of this stuff is. All we can say is that it is very delicious. We may go back Saturday for lunch. We also had a first in town – a Wal-Mart with a covered two floor parking deck!

If you like Gothic, this courthouse is for you. Note the column details from 1894.

Flowers around Temple Square

Friday, May 10 – Another trip into SLC to eat at The Star of India. Good, but not excellent. By 7, the campground was full for the weekend.

Saturday, May 11 – We had lunch at Mazza, a Lebanese establishment. Marvelous fare.

Sunday, May 12 – We drove an hour north and spent the afternoon and night at Anderson Cove near Logan. It was a glorious afternoon and both rode Trixie around the paved and level campground.